World Travellers: Jim Cheney AKA The Tripologist

Time for another cool interview with a fellow World Traveller and today I feature Jim Cheney. Jim loves to get out and about and explore, even in the place he lives in and inspires us all to travel more through his excellent website The Tripologist. Over to Jim…

World Travellers: Jim Cheney – The Tripologist Ice Fishing in South Korea

Who are you?

My name is Jim Cheney. I run Tripologist.com and UncoveringPA.com.

Where are you from?

Currently I live in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in the USA.

Where have you been?

Lots of places. I’ve backpacked around Europe, traveled the United States, Mexico, and Canada, and spent 2.5 years in Asia.

Where are you now?

I’ve been in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania for about 18 months now. I’m trying to show that you don’t have to leave home to find adventure.

What are the top 3 places you’ve visited?

I loved Laos. It’s an amazingly underrated destination.

Turkey is another insanely awesome country. Every city and town I visited was better than the next. I can’t wait to go back.

I’m a bit biased because I lived there for two years, but there is so much to do in South Korea it’s unreal.

World Travellers: Jim Cheney AKA The Tripologist riding a horse in Mongolia.

What is the best travel experience you’ve had?

I don’t think that there’s anyway to wrap up all of my travels into one best experience. Everything, good or bad, has been amazing. My best travel experience is just deciding to go in the first place.

What is the worst travel experience you’ve had?

I might be the worst interview ever, but I’ve been really lucky that I’ve never had an insanely bad experience while traveling. Sure, I’ve been places that I didn’t enjoy, and I’ve even been pick-pocketed. And while those experiences sucked for a few hours, they ended up being good stories.

World Travellers: Jim Cheney at Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington State, USA

What is the funniest travel experience you’ve had?

I think the funniest thing was when I had a bag stolen from the beach in Barcelona. When I noticed the bag, we went and got the cops. When we came back to the spot, some witnesses saw that the guy had come back to the beach. This led to a chase through the streets of Barcelona which was pretty epic.

What is the scariest travel experience you’ve had?

Other than a few scary bus drivers, I’ve never had a really scary experience while traveling. However, I was certainly nervous when I got lost in the countryside of southeast China while on an independent bike trip. I wasn’t sure if my wife and I would be able to find our way out of the rice paddies and back to town before dark.

World Travellers: Jim Cheney and his wife at the DMZ North Korea to South Korea border.

What is the most random job you have had on your travels?

I’ve never had a random job while traveling, but being a blogger has led me to attend some pretty crazy events. For example, just this past February I had a press pass for the official Groundhog Day events in Punxsutawney. Pennsylvania. That was a pretty crazy experience that I’d recommend to anyone.

World Travellers: Jim Cheney hanging out in XingPing, China

How do you fund your travels?

I’ve funded my travels in many ways. I’ve worked in America and saved my money. I’ve worked as an English Teacher in Korea which sustained my travels for a while. And now I’m working as a freelance writer to bring money in.

What 3 tips would you give a new traveller before they set off on their adventure?

Don’t try to see too much. You’ll get burned out.

Turn left when the guidebook tells you to turn right. You’ll see some pretty interesting things that way.

Don’t forget that you can find adventure at home. If you can’t travel right now, just look around you for the travel adventures you crave.

What are your future travel plans?

As I said above, I’m working right now on proving that you can find adventure anywhere. I started a travel blog about the state of Pennsylvania called UncoveringPA.com, and I’m traveling extensively around the state to see what there is to do.

Biography

Jim Cheney is a travel writer and photographer based in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Jim spent over two years in Asia traveling and working prior to settling back in America. His writing focuses mainly on travel planning advice and unique travel destinations throughout Asia, Europe, and North America.

To find more of his work, visit his sites, Tripologist.com and UncoveringPA.com.

Thanks to Jim Cheney for being the latest in my series of World Travellers! If you travel the world and run a travel blog or are a travel writer, please get in touch, you can be featured (there’s a HUGE waiting list at present), either e-mail jonny (at) dontstopliving (dot) net or head to my contacts page and get connected! You can also subscribe to Don’t Stop Living by filling in the form below! Safe travels!

Join 15,017 Monthly Readers! If you enjoyed this article and LOVE travel and SAVING money, get e-mail updates from Don’t Stop Living – a lifestyle of travel! (It’s Free) 😉 Jonny

3 thoughts on “World Travellers: Jim Cheney AKA The Tripologist”

It is great to see Jim featured here. His site on Uncovering PA is a fabulous resource to all visitors to the area. I know I certainly read it to get his views and experiences before my not too infrequent visits to the area.

That is a smart niche to fulfill there, Jim! Pennsylvania is a key State in American history, yet you ask anyone which States to travel, Pennsylvania won’t be one of them. Great State to check out if you are into America history and/or Outdoor activities. Best of luck with the website, Jim!Ray recently posted…An Unlikely Friendship

Hi guys thanks for the comments – I got into Jim’s blog last year when I was searching for China stuff. He covered a lot of the same parts of China that I did and really explored the place. I’m totally intrigued by his notion that you dont have to travel far to see cool places – i.e. there are top sights on your doorstep. He’s right you know!! Safe travels. Jonny

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Jonny Blair currently has mental health problems and is not travellingJonny was recently in Gdańsk, POLANDHe last backpacked in Kaliningrad City, KALININGRADNow Jonny Blair lives in Gdańsk, POLAND
Number of continents visited: 7
Number of countries visited: 160 (including disputed countries)
Number of cities/towns visited: 892 NOT OUT!
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